When your property suffers damage in Florida, especially water and mold damage, many policyholders file a claim directly with their insurance company and believe that all of their losses will be covered.
Several clauses in your insurance policy relate to the loss of water damage or mold and determine damage coverage. Not many people read all the fine print in their font until a mess happens. It is then too late to adjust if the police rule out water damage and the presence of mold.
Once you file an insurance claim, everything is in the hands of either an insurance company adjuster like Merkury Public Adjusters or an independent adjuster, loyal to the insurance company, not you.
Your insurance company has a team of adjusters made up of engineers, claims managers and preferred contractors representing their interests. Since their liability is to the insurance company that employs them, your chances of being reimbursed for the full damage are not very high.
In Florida, you need to hire an independent professional to process a claim with your insurance company. At first, the process may seem easy, but only at the beginning. Eventually, you will receive calls and/or visits from the insurance company's claims adjuster.
Your insurance company's claims adjuster is the one you deal with most often during the insurance claims process. There are three main types of adjusters. The first is a company fitter. He is employed by the insurer and it is with him that you file a claim. The other two insurance claims professionals are the Independent Adjuster and the Public Adjuster.
The independent adjuster is an independent contractor that the insurance company pays to handle a claim for the insurance company while the public adjuster is an insurance adjuster who works only for you. It is hired by the holders of an insurance policy in order to ensure that they obtain, from the purchased insurance policy, the full benefits when a claim is made.
There are several good reasons why you should choose to hire your own public fitter before filing a claim with your insurance company. This is especially true when the loss is significant and your property needs major repairs.
We are making this recommendation after hearing from several people whose property suffered water damage while in Florida. The damage and mold were only discovered after several months.
In a next column, we will discuss the various fee arrangements with these consultants (public adjusters) , many of which charge a percentage of the amount recovered from the insurance company.